Professor Sandburg
by Wildnight
Summary: It's been a long day for Detective Jim Ellison and Professor Blair Sandburg


To say that it hadn't been a good day would have been an understatement. Jim Ellison was just glad to leave the station. The day had been made longer by the fact that his partner, and friend, Blair Sandburg, hadn't been able to join him at the station to deflect the added stimuli away. Blair had apologized over and over, saying he had to teach several additional classes that day. Added to that was his car hadn't started that morning and Jim had to drop him off at the university. Blair had seemed genuinely apologetic, so Jim had told him it was no big deal.

"What time are you going to be done?"

"I can get a ride home to the loft, man."

"What time, Chief?"

"Probably around 5:00."

"I'll be by to pick you up."

"Thanks, Jim."

Jim had called Blair earlier, leaving a message on both his cell phone and his office phone, explaining that he had been finishing up the final details in a grisly murder case Jim was sure Blair remembered without mentioning the name. Jim was sure Blair got the message when Blair made a quick call back to tell Jim picking him up later was actually better since his last class was going to run late anyway.

Jim looked at his watch as he left the station. It was already 6:30 PM. Jim decided to make it up to Blair. They would go out to eat. Jim suspected Blair was probably as tired as Jim was, even though all the younger man had done all day was spend it with college kids. Truth was Jim had very little contact with Blair at the university unless it was to go into one of the labs in the psychology building to do some impromptu tests on Jim's senses. He had never spent any time in Blair's anthropology classes, except the one that had been preempted by Brackett. But Jim figured Blair's class was probably over by now.

Jim drove to the university, hoping Blair was still waiting for him. But Blair would have called had he made other arrangements. Jim made a note to have Blair call his mechanic to have his car checked out. This had made twice this week and three times in the past two weeks when Blair was having problems with his car.

Jim was able to park in the lot beside Hargrove Hall. He saw several vehicles still there. He got out of his truck and walked towards the building were he knew Blair's class was being held. Jim decided to walk inside the building and use his enhanced hearing to pick up the voice of his partner. No doubt, if he wasn't talking to anyone else, Blair was at least talking to himself. He did it without consciously knowing he did. Jim had considered telling Blair he talked to himself, but Jim enjoyed the inner workings of Blair's mind that came out during the self-talk. It was entertaining.

Jim got inside Hargrove Hall and extended out his hearing. It didn't take long for the familiar voice to come to Jim's ears.

"…there hadn't been one for over a thousand years. What about rituals?"

"There were blessings of the food, the weather, the hunt."

"Good, good. What else?"

"The ritual of young boys becoming men."

"Ah, yes. An important one. This is common in every civilization. Well, I hate to break up this fantastic discussion, but it is getting late and the maintenance crew needs to start cleaning at 7:00. And plus the fact that I've been going almost non-stop since 8:00 AM this morning. I'm not used to marathon teaching. But everyone remember what we were talking about and we'll pick it up on Thursday. Okay?"

There was a general consensus by the rest of the group that they would remember the discussion and continue it on Thursday. Jim made his way to the second floor where he knew Blair was conducting his class. Jim saw the students leave the lecture hall, still discussing things between them. Jim walked inside the lecture hall to see Blair still surrounded by three students, a boy and two girls. He was talking to all three while still trying to put his books, papers and laptop inside his backpack. Jim was amazed to see that Blair still appeared to have a lot of energy.

'Well of course he has energy, Ellison. He wasn't trying to track down killers, rapists and criminals all day.'

Jim knew he wasn't being fair to the younger man. But being a university professor just wasn't on the same line as Major Crime detective. Jim chuckled to himself. Nothing was on the same line as Major Crime detective. And tagging along with a Major Crime detective was about as different as being a university professor. Jim didn't understand why Blair stuck around. Sure, he was getting data for his dissertation, but he had mentioned before that he probably had enough to finish up his paper. So, why did he stick around? It baffled Jim.

Jim leaned against one of the chairs, waiting for Blair to finish with his students, while still packing papers into his backpack. He let the familiar voice wash over him, taking away some of his tiredness. It was always better with Blair around him.

Finally, Blair was wrapping up with the last of his students, a young man who didn't look much younger than Blair.

"You take care, Mike. See ya Thursday."

"Sure, Professor Sandburg. Bye."

Blair turned around and saw Jim standing there.

"Hey, man. You should have said something. I don't mean to keep you waiting. You look beat, Jim. Long day?"

"The longest. I'm in no hurry. But the maintenance crew will be by in about 10 minutes. So you might want to get a move on."

"I fibbed. They won't be by until 9:00 PM. I just had enough today. There's only so much one man can take."

"Don't I know it? I was thinking we could stop on the way home and get some take-out. What sounds good to you?"

"Now, don't laugh, Jim. But I'm in the mood for Wonder Burger."

"Why would I laugh? I've finally gotten through to you. The subliminal messages are starting to work."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go home, Jim."

"Sounds good to me, Blair."


End file.
